Home prices continue upward trend in March as sales falter

Home prices continued to rise in March even as the number of sales dropped amid weak supply, a new housing report finds.

The median price in the Baltimore metro area was $259,000, up 5.7 percent or $14,000, from a year ago and was the highest sales price in March of the decade, according to data provided by MarketStats by ShowingTime, based on listing activity from Bright MLS.

But the total number of sales dropped 6.3 percent to 3,081 last month and the number of new contracts contracted 9.9 percent to 4,221, the report found.

The sales decline may be driven by a fall in inventory, as the number of homes on the market plunged 10 percent to 8,507, the fewest in 10 years.

The market could be settling into its “natural level” after the pre-recession period, when there was a lot of buying and selling to make money, said Daraius Irani, chief economist at Towson University's Regional Economic Studies Institute.

“A decade ago people were buying homes for the sake of flipping it, and that was eliminated by the downturn,” he said. “People also aren’t moving as much. They aren’t as desirous of moving to the next bigger home or they can’t move to the next home because they can’t sell their house to get a down payment large enough to buy the next bigger home.”

That’s making it a bit pricier for those who still do want to buy a home.

In addition, another indicator appears strong: the median days on the market for new listings, which fell to 35 days, the lowest it’s been in March in years and down six days since February.

Howard County continued to lead the region in prices, though its median sales price in March dipped 0.9 percent to $386,500 compared to a year ago.

Baltimore City remains the most affordable, with a median price of $142,500, though the median price jumped 10.3 percent from a year ago.

Carroll County had the largest median price increase, up 11.5 percent to $320,000.

Prices rose 9.8 percent in Baltimore County to $239,900; 6.9 percent in Anne Arundel County to $326,000; and 6.5 percent in Harford County to $245,000.